These Are the 8 Shows You’re Going to Want to Stream in September

Historically, back when we didn’t have streaming and we were reliant on a week-by-week calendar when it came to TV, new shows always, always premiered in September.

Why? Good question. The answer is a combination of habit and something about Emmys qualification, which dictated that a series had to be on air by May in order to be eligible for awards. But that was then and this is now, when new shows are less likely to drop episode by episode onto traditional television channels and more likely to unfurl entire seasons in one go on streaming platforms such as Netflix, Stan, Amazon Prime, and more.  

Still, though, the September rule has endured. New season, new television, basically. The month is catnip when it comes to debuts and premieres and this year is no different, coronavirus notwithstanding. There is a glut of brand new TV shows dropping onto streaming platforms this month – and this is what we’ll be watching. 

Chef’s Table: BBQ

When can I watch it? On Netflix from 2 September  

In the five years since Chef’s Table first launched on Netflix, the show has travelled the globe looking for the most innovative and exciting people in the world of food to profile. For this series, the focus is barbeque, with each episode zeroing in on a chef who uses fire, smoke, and charcoal to produce truly mind-blowing meals. That includes Lennox Hastie, the chef at Sydney restaurant Firedoor, with one episode in Chef’s Table: BBQ focusing on Hastie’s way with a grill at his acclaimed restaurant. “Cooking with fire, it’s something that has a life, because you’re never fully in control,” he says in the trailer for the new season. “The fire’s in control.” Mouthwateringly good.  

Raised By Wolves

When can I watch it? On Foxtel’s Showcase and Binge from 3 September

Sci-fi fans, this one is for you. Imagine Earth has been destroyed and humans are in the process of colonising a new planet. All life has to start anew in this futuristic series, which is interested in whether second chances allow us to rewrite past wrongs or merely create new opportunities to make the same old mistake. Produced by Ridley Scott (he of Gladiator and The Martian fame) and starring Australian actor Travis Fimmel as Marcus, the leader of this new world, Raised By Wolves looks seriously epic.  

The Boys Season 2

When can I watch it? On Amazon Prime from 4 September

The first season of this swaggering, tongue-in-cheek superhero comedy was brash, bold, and pretty gory. There’ll be more of that in the second season, considering that our boys Billy the Butcher (Karl Urban) and Hughie (Jack Quaid, yes – Dennis and Meg Ryan’s son) have scattered to the wind following season one’s cliffhanger finale. This show is for anyone who is tired of rote comic book adaptations and wants an action series with wit, humour, and smarts. In the world of The Boys, superheroes live among humans, are employed by a money-grabbing corporation, and are treated like politicians, complete with approval ratings and campaign videos. It’s eerily realistic. Oh, and Nate from Gossip Girl (Chace Crawford) stars as a dolphin loving water-adjacent superhero called The Deep. You know you love it.  

Away

When can I watch it? On Netflix from 4 September 

Hilary Swank and Josh Charles star in this glossy, tear-jerking melodrama about a group of astronauts on a mission to Mars… And the families and lives that they leave behind. If you’re a fan of sweeping, decades-spanning shows like This Is Us you’ll love Away, which is executive produced by Jason Katims, the man who made shows such as Friday Night Lights and Parenthood so great. Expect drama, expect emotions to run high, and expect it to be surprisingly moving by the time the season rounds out. 

Ratched

When can I watch it? On Netflix from 18 September  

Hollywood super-producer Ryan Murphy – he is the man behind Glee, American Horror Story and The Politician, among others – is back on Netflix with another show. This time, it’s a prequel to classic horror film One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest called Ratched, focussing on the early life of supervillain Nurse Mildred Ratched. Starring Sarah Paulson, Cynthia Nixon, Sophie Okonedo, Alice Englert, and, um, Sharon Stone (!!!), this Netflix series has star power for days. Not to mention the gorgeous costume and production design. Fans of campy horror will be in heaven.  

Tehran

When can I watch it? On AppleTV+ from 25 September

A young secret agent. Deep undercover. Life or death stakes. The fate of the world in her hands. This is the setting of Tehran, the nail-biting new thriller from AppleTV+. Created by the team who made the celebrated Israeli political drama Fauda – if you haven’t binged it yet, you can watch it on Netflix now – Tehran has already aired in Israel, where it was an instant hit. If you liked thrillers such as Bodyguard, or the many versions of Jack Ryan that float around on streaming channels, Tehran is one for you.

The Comey Rule

When can I watch it? On Stan from 27 September 

Brendan Gleeson stars as Donald Trump and Jeff Daniels as former FBI director James Comey in this dramatisation of the early months of the Trump presidency. Are we emotionally ready to look back at that time in our lives in such microscopic, televisual detail? Who knows. But one thing is for sure – Gleeson (you might remember him as the loveable baddie in Paddington 2 or In Bruges) is doing a truly stellar impersonation of the American president in this miniseries. It’s worth whatever the Stan version of the price of admission is alone.

Every Episode of Friends

When can I watch it? On Binge and Netflix from 17 September

 And here’s a little something extra, just in case what you want to watch in September isn’t a new show, but rather an old classic. All 236 episodes of Friends will be dropping onto not one but two streaming platforms in September. Both Binge and Netflix will carry the complete arc of your favourite New York friendship group for the first time in Australia. Which means that it’s never been a better time to catch up with your pals Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler and Ross at Central Perk.

Want to really start a binge session? Check out the 10 best film series to stream now.